Calling his actions dangerous and selfish, a London judge has sentenced the 24-year-old Chinese man who drove drunk and caused a crash that killed a London Free Press carrier to seven years in prison.
Jinghao Zhou pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death in May. He also pleaded to two offences under the Immigration Refugee Protection Act in relation to a fake passport that allowed him to stay in Canada. On Friday, Zhou returned to the London courthouse where Ontario Court Justice Thomas McKay handed him a six year sentence on the impaired driving charge, and one year for each of the two immigration charges. However, one of the immigration charges is to be served concurrently. Zhou is also prohibited from driving in Canada for ten years.
"The circumstances of this crime are horrific," said Justice McKay in delivering his sentence.
He went onto state that Zhou's driving leading up to the collision was "outrageous." McKay also said that he was "satisfied" that Zhou was remorseful for his actions.
"He appears to understand the effect that his actions have had," said McKay.
Zhou was behind the wheel of a rented Dodge Durango SUV when he ran a red light at Richmond St. and Sunningdale Rd., colliding head-on with 60-year-old Gloria Chivers' Pontiac Sunfire at 2:45am on November 24, 2016. The court heard Zhou was travelling at 188km/h in a posted 60 km/h zone at the time of the crash and did not attempt to brake. The force of the crash pushed Chivers' steering wheel into the rear seat, before the vehicle was crushed by Zhou's. Chivers, who had been delivering newspapers at the time of the crash, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A breath test conducted following the crash showed Zhou had a blood alcohol level of .199, and may have been as high as .240 at the time of the crash. The legal limit is 0.08.
McKay touched on the victim impact statement from Chivers' husband Chris, which was read in court last month by assistant Crown attorney George Christakos. In it Chris Chivers said Zhou "not only killed my wife, he destroyed my life. I have no one to love."
The couple had no children. Chris Chivers was caused more pain by the fact police, the coroner, and funeral home would not allow him to see his wife's body, due to the severity of her injuries. He was left with only her shattered cellphone and has been too upset to attend the court proceedings.
"[Chris Chivers] lost everything that night. He lost the love of his life. He's finding it very difficult," said Chivers' sister Ruth Summerhill following Friday's sentencing.
Summerhill agreed with McKay's assertion that Zhou was sorry for what he has done.
"I do believe that he was very remorseful and my heart goes out to him and his family," said Summerhill. "He didn't go out to purposely kill Gloria that night and he made a fateful error that has caused shame on his country and family. He will have to live with that and we will have to live with the fact that we lost our one and only sister Gloria."
She is optimistic the six-year sentence on the impaired driving charge will help deter others from getting behind the wheel drunk.
Zhou's defence lawyer Jim Dean had argued for the minimum sentence of four years.
"I'm disappointed," said Dean. "I understand the general deterrence, but it's disappointing particularly in this case with the difficulties my client has with the culture, with the language. It's going to be a much more difficult and longer process for him."
Zhou has been in Canada since 2013, when he gained entry into the county on a student visa. He remained here with the use of fake documents purchased for $17,000 through an online chat room. He initially attended Brock University in St. Catharines for a month, but dropped out due to his struggles with the English language. The struggle continued when he came to London, flunking out of Fanshawe College only to then enroll at the London Language Institute but did not attend any classes.
Since his arrest, Zhou's parents have come to Canada and attended all of his hearings. They have acquired ten year visas to stay in the country to be near their son while he serves his sentence.
Zhou will get credit for time served, which shaves roughly one year off of his sentence. He will be deported back to China once he is released.